Wage inflation reached record highs last month as demand for staff in Scotland surged and the number of jobseekers plummeted, new figures show.
The Bank of Scotland’s labour market barometer for June registered the steepest drop in people searching for permanent employment since the survey began in 2003.
In line with this, salary increases reached a record high, highlighting the “growing pressure” in Scotland’s labour market, the bank said.
Permanent and temporary job appointments increased at a faster rate in line with an upturn in the number of vacancies, the report found.
Overall, the bank’s labour market barometer reached an 11 and a half year high, measuring areas such as levels of staff demand, employment and wages to create a single figure snapshot of labour market conditions.
Donald MacRae, chief economist at Bank of Scotland, said of the June barometer:
“The number of people appointed to jobs increased while vacancies grew at a robust rate.
“The number of candidates available for both permanent and temporary jobs fell accompanied by a record rise in starting salaries.
“The recovery in the Scottish economy looks set to continue.”
The rise in demand for permanent staff was highest in the accounting and financial sector, with temporary job vacancies highest in nursing, medical and care.
Edinburgh led the growth in permanent placements for a second month running, while Glasgow experienced the sharpest increase in permanent salaries, followed by Dundee and Edinburgh.
Aberdeen registered the most marked rise in temp hourly pay rates as the number of people able to work on a flexible basis in the city fell to the greatest extent in Scotland.
Finance Secretary John Swinney said the research showed the “sustained improvement in Scottish labour market conditions”.
He added: “This report follows on from last week’s positive GDP and labour market figures, which showed that Scotland’s economy is now back above pre-recession levels and employment levels are at their highest since records began, with 2,587,000 people now employed in Scotland.
“While the survey highlights salary inflation, we have to remember that this is against a backdrop of real wages falling continuously over the last six years and average pay in Scotland falling back to 2005 levels.”
The barometer reached 65.1 in June, up from 61.8 in May and marking the first increase since February.
The figure is measured against a baseline of 50, with anything above 50 representing an improvement and anything below a deterioration.